677819 external_news 1729620194 1729620194 Extreme weather linked to climate change drives people to rely on familiar but unreliable sources like the Farmers’ Almanac for forecasts, which are only about 52% accurate. In contrast, the National Weather Service (NWS) offers structured long-term forecasts focused on temperature and precipitation. Senior Academic Professional Zachary Handlos in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences says both sources have the same general idea. "They have one or two writers that put out a winter forecast every year,” says Handlos. “I think they keep the identity of the writers a little cryptic. It’s part of the lore of reading it. Both claim that their forecasts are science based. But some of it’s also a mix of what farmers know in terms of intuition, astronomy and things like that. There's a little bit of folklore, which makes it fun.”

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